Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1887-02-10
Brnn,s.xnsr sour.


interesting Architectural Methods OF
the SWIFT.
cornnin Magazine.
The peculiarly of the swift's architec-
tural Views Is simply this: BE does not |
merely weave and Intervene the ma
terials of his home, like other birds, but |
CLUES them together by special score |
ton, sort Of sticky Jelly which he fab
rioates on purpose, and of which heelone
among birds possesses the secret. His
nest d usually placed under the roof of a
house or the battlements Of church
tower, and ia rudely constructed Of bits
OF Qrasa, hbrous roots, moss, and hehen,
wool, hair, fur, and feathers, or the cot
tony down of seeds and plants, all securely
felted and agglutinated together by a
very sticky gelatinous mixture. Here we
catch evolution actually in the act; the
thin threads or fibres which thus connect
the atraws and feathers of the swift's nest
are the raw material Of the edible birds
nest, which consists entirely of that par.
ticular element lin the purest specimens)
unmixed with any unpleasant foreign
body. Not but that the edible bird's-nest
itself ia about as unpleasant q thing to
eat &C any yet devised by the Celestial
imagination for both in the swift and in
the Chinese swiftlet the jelly-like matter
is really, to quote the delicate language
of science, ''inspissated mucous from the
aaliyary glands" The general reader will
forgive my saying that this is one of the
numerous passages in classical or scien-
titic authors best left untranslated in the
original tongue.
/ ought TO mention in passing that our
own swift seldom builds q nest for him
self at all he usually takes possession
by forcible means of the lares and
penates of some unhappy sparrow whom
be forcibly elects without form of law Z;
and 1t is only when driven to the last ex
+ tremity for want of anybody to dispos
sess that he can be induced to construct
dwelling for himself. He is by choice
robber, and only by compulsion 4
peaceable householder. Now this indis
positioT 20 collect materials for nest on
his own account is clea. y at TIE bottom
of the curious habit Of making edible
bird's-nests from hardened saliva and a
it flows naturally from the other habit
and manners of the swift family, it give
us at once the true key to the entire sit
uation. For the swifts being by natur
aerial birds, with great indisposition t.
settle on the ground, whore they ar
about as much out of their element as
seal is on dry land, do not readily collec
the sticks, and strsws, and grasses, an,
bits of refuse of which most birds habit
ually construct their tiny homes. Whel
s forced to build nest for themselves
they use for the most part light frag
ments of grass, thistledown and feathers
all of which can be gathered on the wing
while borne by the breeze through til
a. lie
together with their copious mucus, TO
which purpose their salivary glands ar
peculiarly large and fully developed
As the spider spins its web out of il
own body, 30 the swift finds it chenpe
in the end to build nest out of its owl
secretions than to collect material in I'M
suitable places.
An American swift-ahead as usual Q
the effete British representatives of tn
family-cafries the same principles ste
further, and constructs its nest of sma
twigs, glued together by a browns
muoilage, almost as oopious as that of th
edible species, but not quite so clear {
pure OF ielly-like. This Yankee bird
nest swells and softens in warm watt
exactly like the genuine article, but it hi
not so far been employed for cookery
the heather Chinee of Chicago and 81
Francisco. In time, no doubt, it will
duly exploited by some intelligent Anne
lean Franeatelli, and bird's-nest soup W
delight the palate of dinners at d,
monico's as it already delights I
almond-eyed gourmets of Pekin o.
Yokohama The true edible bird's-nt
swiftlet is native of Ceylon and of
Malay region and it builds in cay
where materials for architecture {
necessarily scanty, or on sea cliffs of
accessible hight. More than mt
other swifts this tropical spec
ia confirmed highfyer, hawking
its food around. the SUBMITS of
mountains, and much indisposed to set
on the ground upon any pretext. Hen
it has learned to carry to the furth,
2 possible limit the family habit of maxi
q, nest quite literally ''all out of its o.
head,n without the slightest extraneo
aid Of any sort. The best and clean
nests, which fetch the highest price, {
composed entirely of pure mueus FRI
the salivary glands. The material in
hardened state is brittle fibrous, viii
:. and transparent, livery like pure g
~ arahin or even olaaa'i. ord the IN
inning consists n nothing Uut small, :
feathers Inierieg rests, which comm,
a smaller plivo an tlo Chinese maj net,
~ composed in part of dried grasses, h
and down, welded together by the fibre
gummy secretion. In short, as Mr..
win bluntly puts it, "The Chinese m
soup of dried saliva" This sounds
rid enough, to be sure; but when we
sslves give up coloring jellies with
funct cochineal insects, it will be time
us to cast the first stone at the 0rie
cuisine.